What is SMERSH? Russia Revives Stalin-Era Spy-Hunting Squads in Ukraine

Russia has revived SMERSH, a Stalin-era spy hunting organization, in parts of Ukraine that were illegally annexed and are partially under the control of Kremlin forces, a Russian politician and Kremlin propagandist announced Sunday.

Andrey Gurulyov, a Russian parliament (Duma) member and former military commander, made the remarks during an appearance on state television channel Russia-1, an excerpt of which was posted to his Telegram channel.

SMERSH, an acronym for the Russian words "death to spies"—"smert" meaning death and "shpionam" meaning spies—was the name of an organization formed by Soviet leader Josef Stalin. It was tasked with the elimination of anti-communist activity during World War II.

"We talked about SMERSH, today we created a department that works in approximately the same way in new territories," said Gurulyov, referring to the Ukrainian regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia.

These were illegally annexed by Russian President Vladimir Putin in the fall of 2022 following referendums. Russia is not fully in control of any of the regions, and foreign governments, including the United States, said the move was illegitimate.

Newsweek has contacted the foreign ministries of Ukraine and Russia for comment.

SMERSH, formed by Stalin 80 years ago in April 1943 and operational until 1946, was a crucial part of the Soviet leader's terror apparatus. The organization, notorious for its brutality, was behind the arrest, torture and execution of thousands of people, including any its own agents suspected of sabotage, desertion, or disloyalty. However, the group prevented many attempts on the lives of top Soviet officials, including Stalin himself, Russian news outlet Lenta reported.

Gurulyov said a similar structure should also operate once again in Russia.

"Today they are trying to interfere with [our operations in non-frontline areas]. I talked to the Far East, where we have nuclear submarines and [where] our ships [are] based. They may also be in danger, so we need to approach protection issues a little differently," the politician said.

One SMERSH veteran was cited by Lenta as explaining the lengths to which operatives went to prevent classified documents from falling into the hands of the enemy.

"What I remember most is how we were trained to destroy secret papers if there was a threat of their capture by the enemy—they had to be eaten," Pelageya Semina said. "They showed us, explaining that you can't put the whole leaf into your mouth at once, but you need to tear off small pieces from it and swallow them after chewing them thoroughly."

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